Fruit CEO to leave Capespan

Louis Kriel, chief executive officer of Capespan’s fruit division, has announced he will leave the Capespan Group at the end of June.

"The opportune time has arrived for me to further my career outside of the fruit industry," Kriel said in a news release from the Cape Town, South Africa-based company.

Kriel has been with Capespan 22 years, including 12 years where he worked outside of South Africa, according to the release. Kriel helped shepherd the group from the days of single-channel marketing through deregulation and the formation of grower-owned Cooperatives, according to the release. Kriel was also on hand for the merger between Outspan and Unifruco and then the formation of Capespan in 1999.

“It is with great appreciation that we recognise the long and dedicated service by Louis during which he became an icon in the history of Capespan,” Dique said in the release. “We certainly wish him well with his future plans and respect his decision.”

Capespan will evaluate its strategy of repositioning as a customer driven business and will make further announcements, including possible management restructuring, according to the release.

About the Author:

Tom Karst

Tom Karst is national editor for The Packer and Farm Journal Media, covering issues of importance to the produce industry including immigration, farm policy and food safety.
He began his career with The Packer in 1984 as one of the founding editors of ProNet, a pioneering electronic news service for the produce industry. Tom has also served as markets editor for The Packer and editor of Global Produce magazine, among other positions.
Tom is also the main author of Fresh Talk, www.tinyurl.com/freshtalkblog, an industry blog that has been active since November 2006.
Previous to coming to The Packer, Tom worked from 1982 to 1984 at Harris Electronic News, a farm videotext service based in Hutchinson, Kansas.
Tom has a bachelor’s degree in agricultural journalism from Kansas State University, Manhattan.
He can be reached at tkarst@farmjournal.com and 913-438-0769. Find Tom's Twitter account at www.twitter.com/tckarst.